GP Express Airlines

GP Express Airlines
Founded	1975;49 years ago
Ceased operations	1996;28 years ago
Operating bases	Grand Island, Nebraska
Fleet size	3 different types of aircraft.
Destinations	Midwest and Southern United States
Headquarters	Grand Island, Nebraska

Last updated December 04, 2024

GP Express Airlines was a scheduled passenger commuter air carrier with its headquarters located in Grand Island, Nebraska ^[1] The parent corporation of the airline began on-demand air charter operations in December 1975. In December 1985 the Department of Transportation notified GP AIR (the parent corporation) that its bid to provide Essential Air Service (EAS) service in the Midwest had been accepted, GP AIR subsequently created subsidiary GP Express in order to conduct these operations under 14 CFR Part 135.

By 1992, the airline had expanded to provide air service with many flights being operated under EAS contracts in Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, Service in the southern U.S. began on June 6, 1992. By 1993 the airline was operating several Cessna 402 twin prop aircraft in addition to eight Beechcraft Model 99 turboprops and five Beechcraft 1900C turboprops with the latter being introduced in 1990.^[1]^[2]

GP Express operated as a Continental Connection carrier in association with Continental Airlines at the major carrier's hub in Denver (DEN) beginning on March 9, 1994. GP Express replaced Britt Airways at Denver as Continental was disbanding its hub operation there. By October 30, 1994, Continental was down to only serving Denver from four U.S. airports while GP Express was continuing to run a full Continental Connection operation at Denver as well as limited operations at Kansas City and Omaha. During the next two years, GP Express subsequently discontinued all operations at Denver. The carrier then began feeder services in support of new Continental Lite operations at Greensboro, NC and Tampa, FL in 1995 but filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations a year later.^[3]

Destinations in 1992

According to a GP Express route map, the airline was operating two different route systems in 1992 as an independent air carrier with one located in the north central U.S. stretching from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Kansas City to Denver and the other located in the southeastern U.S. with the two route systems being separately operated:^[4]

North Central U.S. Destinations

Continental Connection service from Denver in 1994

According to the Continental Airlines system timetable, GP Express was operating code sharing flights as Continental Connection on behalf of Continental Airlines with Beechcraft 1900C commuter turboprop aircraft flying nonstop or direct between Denver (DEN) and the following destinations on October 30, 1994:

The above referenced timetable also lists only four destinations served nonstop from Denver by Continental Airlines mainline jet service at this time: Chicago Midway Airport (MDW), Cleveland (CLE), Houston (IAH) and Newark (EWR), three of which were the location of Continental hubs in 1994.

Accidents

GP Express Airlines was noted for an unusually high fatal accident rate for its fleet size and received additional FAA oversight as a result.^[2]

On December 23, 1987 a GP Express Cessna 402 crashed on approach to Chadron, Nebraska.^[2] The crash resulted in fatal injuries to the two person flight crew and serious injuries to the only passenger.^[5]
GP Express Flight 861 crashed near Anniston, Alabama on June 9, 1992, only two days after operations began in the GP Express Southern Region.^[1]
On April 28, 1993, a GP Express Airlines Beechcraft Model 99 crashed near Shelton, Nebraska during execution of an aerobatic maneuver during a non-revenue check ride. Both pilots sustained fatal injuries.^[6]

Related Research Articles

CommuteAir is a regional airline of the United States founded in 1989. Today, CommuteAir operates more than 1,600 weekly flights, exclusively on behalf of United Express, serving over 75 U.S. destinations and 3 in Mexico. CommuteAir's fleet of Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft fly from its bases at Washington–Dulles and Houston–Intercontinental. The company was previously called CommutAir until July 26, 2022, when it legally changed its name to the present-day CommuteAir.

United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which five individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights.

Continental Express was the brand name used by a number of independently owned regional airlines providing commuter airliner and regional jet feeder service under agreement with Continental Airlines. In 2010 at the time of Continental's merger with United Airlines, two carriers were operating using the Continental Express brand name:

US Airways Express was the brand name for the regional affiliate of US Airways, under which a number of individually owned commuter air carriers and regional airlines operate short and medium haul routes. This code sharing service was previously operated as USAir Express. Mainline carriers often outsource to regional airlines to operate services in order to increase frequency, serve routes that would not sustain larger aircraft, or for other competitive reasons. US Airways Express operations were conducted from smaller markets in the United States, Canada, and the Bahamas primarily centered on US Airways' major hubs and focus cities.

Mesa Airlines, Inc., is an American regional airline based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an FAA Part 121–certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number MASA036A issued on June 29, 1979. It is a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group and operates flights as United Express via respective code sharing agreements with United Airlines. It serves more than 180 markets in the Western Hemisphere. In a 1997 article from the Journal of Air Transportation, Mesa's safety record was noted as having the fewest incidents among domestic regional airlines at that time.

Air Midwest, Inc., was a Federal Aviation Administration Part 121 certificated air carrier that operated under air carrier certificate number AMWA510A issued on May 15, 1965. It was headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, United States, and from 1991 was a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group. Besides initially flying as an independent air carrier, it later operated code sharing feeder flights on behalf of Eastern Air Lines as Eastern Air Midwest Express, on behalf of American Airlines as American Eagle, on behalf of Trans World Airlines (TWA) as Trans World Express and on behalf of US Airways as US Airways Express. It also operated feeder flights on behalf of Braniff (1983–1990) and Ozark Air Lines in addition to flying for Mesa Airlines. Air Midwest was shut down by its parent company, Mesa Airlines, in June 2008.

Telluride Regional Airport is a public airport six miles west of Telluride, in San Miguel County, Colorado, United States. It is owned by the Telluride Regional Airport Authority. At an elevation of 9,078 feet above sea level, it was the highest commercial airport in North America with scheduled passenger flights when Great Lakes Airlines resumed scheduled passenger service in December 2016; however, those flights ceased in March 2018. In August 2018, commercial service returned with the introduction of Boutique Air, and the airport remains the highest airfield in the U.S. with scheduled passenger flights, and the second highest overall airfield in the US behind Leadville Airport. Denver Air Connection is currently the only airline flying scheduled passenger flights from Telluride with daily nonstop flights to Denver and Phoenix. Denver Air operates the Fairchild-Dornier 328JET into Telluride. The 328JET is one of the few regional jet airliners in service capable of operating at such high field elevations as TEX.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Lakes Airlines</span>

Great Lakes Airlines was an American regional airline operating domestic scheduled and charter services. Corporate headquarters were in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with a hub at Denver International Airport.

Skyway Airlines was an American ramp and aircraft ground handling services and catering company based in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Until April 5, 2008, it operated as a regional airline and banner carrier exclusively for Midwest Express Airlines under the business name Midwest Connect, feeding Midwest's hub at General Mitchell International Airport with twelve 32-seat Fairchild-Dornier 328JET regional jet aircraft, and four 19-seat Beechcraft 1900 commuter turboprops. Skyway Airlines, along with its parent corporation, Midwest Air Group, has since ceased operations.

Cheyenne Regional Airport – also known as Jerry Olson Field – is a civil-military airport a mile north of downtown Cheyenne, in Laramie County, Wyoming. It is owned by the Cheyenne Regional Airport Board.

Casper–Natrona County International Airport is 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Casper, in Natrona County, Wyoming. Before December 19, 2007, the airport was called Natrona County International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Nebraska Regional Airport</span> Airport in Nebraska

Central Nebraska Regional Airport is three miles northeast of Grand Island, in Hall County, Nebraska. It is owned by the Hall County Airport Authority. The airport sees two airlines, Allegiant Air which flies independently and American Eagle which is subsidized by the federal Essential Air Service program. In 2016 the airport had 68,879 passenger boardings (enplanements), a 6.6% increase from the 64,602 enplanements in 2015. The airport had 7,961 enplanements in calendar year 2008, 20,136 in 2009 and 37,101 in 2010.

Alpine Air Express is an American airline based in Provo, Utah. It operates scheduled and chartered air cargo services on over 100 routes throughout Utah, Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, California, and Colorado.

Four Corners Regional Airport is in San Juan County, New Mexico, United States, in the city of Farmington, which owns it. It is a Class D towered general aviation airport with no commercial passenger services, but has chartered flight services, flight instruction, and a full-service fixed-base operator]] (FBO). It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2019–2023, in which it is categorized as a regional general aviation facility.

Pueblo Memorial Airport is a public airport located six miles east of Pueblo, in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. It is primarily used for general aviation.

Gunnison–Crested Butte Regional Airport is a county-owned, public airport one mile southwest of Gunnison, in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. Also known as Gunnison County Airport, it serves the valley and nearby Crested Butte, Colorado, with airline and general aviation flights.

Rocky Mountain Airways was a commuter airline in the United States that operated from 1963 until it merged with Britt Airways in 1991. It was headquartered in Hangar No. 6 of the now-closed Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado. It was sold to Texas Air Corporation/Continental Airlines in 1986 and was operated as a Continental Express subsidiary until its operations were merged with Britt Airways in 1991. The airline flew from Denver's Stapleton International Airport to a variety of destinations in Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming. The airline operated out of the old commuter terminal in Concourse A at Stapleton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidential Airways (scheduled)</span> American scheduled airline from 1985 to 1989

Presidential Airways was an airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia. It was founded in 1985 by Harold J. (Hap) Pareti, formerly an officer at People Express Airlines, known as PEOPLExpress a low-cost carrier, with Boeing 737-200 service from Washington Dulles to Boston Logan in Massachusetts commencing October 10 of that year. A small fleet of B737-200 jetliners were initially operated by the airline.

StatesWest Airlines was a commuter airline headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona that operated to destinations in the Southwestern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Britt Airways</span> Defunct regional airline of the United States (1964–1996)

Britt Airways was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1964 until it merged with ExpressJet in 1996. It was established as Vercoa Air Service in 1964 and renamed to Britt Airlines when it was purchased by William and Marilyn Britt in 1975 later on Britt Airways. It was based in Terre Haute, Indiana until 1996. It began as a commuter airline. It primarily operated turboprop aircraft but also flew British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven twinjets as an independent air carrier at one point as well. The airline evolved into a regional air carrier operating code share flights primarily for Continental Airlines.

References

1 2 3 "Controlled Collision with Terrain; GP Express Airlines Flight 861; Beechcraft C99 N118GP; Anniston, Alabama; June 8, 1992" (PDF).
1 2 3 http://library.erau.edu/worldwide/find/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-summaries.htm Archived 2010-06-12 at the Wayback Machine AAR 94-01-SUM Aircraft Accident / Incident Summary Report; Controlled Flight into Terrain; GP Express Airlines N115GP; Beechcraft C-99; Shelton, Nebraska; April 28, 1993
↑ Continental Airlines timetables
↑ http://www.departedflights.com, Oct. 26, 1992 GP Express route map
↑ https://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=MKC88FA032&rpt=fa NTSB Factual Report MKC88FA032; December 22, 1987, Chadron, NE
↑ https://www.ntsb.gov/Recs/letters/1994/A94_11_12.pdf NTSB Safety Recommendation A-94-11 and -12; February 14, 1994

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[ntsb-1] 1 2 3 "Controlled Collision with Terrain; GP Express Airlines Flight 861; Beechcraft C99 N118GP; Anniston, Alabama; June 8, 1992" (PDF).

[ntsb93-2] 1 2 3 http://library.erau.edu/worldwide/find/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-summaries.htm Archived 2010-06-12 at the Wayback Machine AAR 94-01-SUM Aircraft Accident / Incident Summary Report; Controlled Flight into Terrain; GP Express Airlines N115GP; Beechcraft C-99; Shelton, Nebraska; April 28, 1993

[3] Continental Airlines timetables

[4] ttp://www.departedflights.com, Oct. 26, 1992 GP Express route map

[5] ttps://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=MKC88FA032&rpt=fa NTSB Factual Report MKC88FA032; December 22, 1987, Chadron, NE

[6] ttps://www.ntsb.gov/Recs/letters/1994/A94_11_12.pdf NTSB Safety Recommendation A-94-11 and -12; February 14, 1994

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]